Chapter 68 - 61: Disparity in Foundation

Chapter 68: Chapter 61: Disparity in Foundation

Just as Xu Mo finished his daily training and was about to lie down to rest, that familiar, low rumble once again drew near, coming from high up in the sky.

Xu Mo listened intently. He could tell the rumbling sounded a little lighter than it had on the outbound trip. He wasn’t sure if it was because they had dropped their payload or just his imagination, but it seemed to lack the grim weight it had carried on its departure.

Lying in bed, Xu Mo mentally calculated the time. The span between when he first heard Rock’s distress call, when the bomber squadron departed, and their return now clearly delineated the considerable distance between Jiang City and Rock Shelter.

’That’s a long way,’ Xu Mo marveled to himself.

A long-distance strike meant the bomber squadron had to cross unknown, dangerous airspace. It required a massive amount of fuel, sophisticated navigation, and the ability to counter a variety of potential threats. This served as further proof of Jiang City Shelter’s immense power and technological reserves, and it made Xu Mo even more certain that Rock Shelter was not in the same league.

As the sound of the engines gradually faded and then disappeared completely, Xu Mo slowly drifted off to sleep. That night, he slept more soundly than usual—perhaps because he knew a powerful force was at work in the distance, or perhaps because the threat of the wolf pack had been dealt with.

The next day, Xu Mo woke up on schedule, roused by his internal clock. Outside the window, the same inky, light-swallowing blackness remained. His watch indicated it should have been early morning. Xu Mo listened carefully for a moment, but the anticipated roar of aircraft—which might have signaled a second wave of airstrikes or supply drops—never came.

’Looks like the situation at Rock has stabilized,’ Xu Mo concluded.

Jiang City’s intervention, especially deploying a force as powerful as bombers, was enough to turn the tide of a local crisis. The horde of Mutant Beasts gathered outside Rock must have suffered heavy losses from the airstrikes. With external aid and some breathing room, the chaos inside Rock could likely be quelled by its remaining organized forces.

However, just because the immediate crisis was over didn’t mean the consequences were gone.

Xu Mo could imagine that after this battle, Rock Shelter’s standing in the eyes of nearby survivors was bound to be shaken. A sudden pincer attack from both inside and out, triggered by the corrosive darkness, had nearly led to the entire shelter’s annihilation. This undoubtedly exposed Rock Shelter’s severe deficiencies in crisis response and basic defenses. For a shelter whose primary promise was security, this was practically a failing grade. Survivors sought refuge in shelters for stability; how much of a sense of security could a stronghold that almost failed to protect itself possibly offer?

Events unfolded just as Xu Mo had predicted.

That evening, when Xu Mo turned on his radio as part of his daily routine, he picked up a clear broadcast from Rock Shelter. The announcer’s voice was different. Though they did their utmost to sound calm, an undercurrent of weakness and the raw relief of a survivor was still palpable through the airwaves.

The broadcast had two main parts. The first was a continued call to any survivors still out in the wastes, welcoming them to the shelter and providing conditions for entry and directions. The second part, delivered in a tone of extreme solemnity and gratitude, expressed the sincerest thanks to Jiang City Shelter for its "timely and decisive assistance" during the crisis, promising to never forget this kindness.

The broadcast only vaguely referenced the shelter’s own losses and chaos, glossing over them with phrases like "endured a grim ordeal" and "temporary difficulties," without providing any details. But the more they downplayed it, the more it was bound to fuel listeners’ speculation.

Xu Mo could easily imagine what the survivors scattered throughout the ruins, all depending on their radios for information, must be thinking. While they marveled at the power of Jiang City Shelter, they would inevitably start to question Rock’s competence. ’They almost collapsed from a single ordeal. What about next time?’ A doubt like that would be enough to make many survivors who had once considered Rock their primary destination hesitate, or even start seriously considering the risky journey to the more distant, but clearly more powerful, Jiang City.

’I wonder if any survivors who heard that broadcast will still make Rock Shelter their first choice,’ Xu Mo thought, shaking his head slightly to clear the clutter of thoughts. To him, this was just an interlude, another case study in the grand tableau of the apocalypse. ℯℯ𝑙.

...

At night, a soft white light banished the shadows from the room. Xu Mo knew perfectly well that using the darkness to train, to actively fight the mental erosion, was a proactive and controlled form of tempering. Sleep, however, was completely different. It was a time when his consciousness was relaxed and his defenses were at their weakest. In that state, allowing the corrosive darkness to seep in was tantamount to chronic suicide. He had no need to "train" his willpower in his sleep; what he needed was proper rest and safe recovery.

As it turned out, subsequent information would prove this cautious measure of Xu Mo’s to be an extremely wise one.

Just one day after Rock Shelter’s broadcast, Xu Mo tuned his radio back to Jiang City Shelter’s frequency and heard an extremely valuable technical bulletin. The announcer’s voice was clear as they detailed the latest research findings on the effects of the "mental erosion from the Eternal Night’s darkness" on humans:

"Based on continuous observation and data analysis by our researchers, we have preliminarily determined that the effects of the dark erosion are closely linked to one’s environment and individual condition. In an unsheltered, completely exposed outdoor environment, the erosion effect is at its most intense. Our initial estimates suggest that a healthy adult remaining in such conditions for approximately seven hours will begin to show clear signs of mental confusion and hallucinations, with a high probability of descending into irreversible madness..."

Hearing this, Xu Mo’s eyes narrowed. ’Seven hours.’ The number was even grimmer than his own experiences and estimates had suggested. It meant that undertaking long-distance travel during the Eternal Night was an extremely dangerous endeavor. Of course, if you could keep a light on the entire time, that was a different story entirely.

The broadcast continued: "Being inside an enclosed structure can effectively weaken the erosion, but its effects still persist. This is especially true during sleep, a state of lowered consciousness, where the dark erosion continues to take place, albeit at a reduced rate. Therefore, we strongly advise all survivors to maintain a minimal, stable light source while sleeping. This is currently the most effective protective measure we have verified..."

This completely validated Xu Mo’s method. ’Sleeping with a light on is essential.’

Immediately after, the broadcast announced a major decision by the Jiang City Shelter: "To best ensure the physical and mental well-being of all our residents and to resist the erosion of the Eternal Night, effective immediately and until the sun rises again, the main sectors of the Jiang City Shelter will implement ’Project Constant Light.’ This will provide round-the-clock public illumination, and this energy supply will be completely free of charge to all registered residents..."

’Project Constant Light! And it’s free!’ Hearing this, Xu Mo couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath.

The scale of it was immense.

In the Eternal Night, energy was a lifeline. Lighting, heating, running equipment—it all consumed enormous amounts of power. Jiang City Shelter not only had the capacity to maintain its own basic operations but could also afford the luxury of providing round-the-clock, free public lighting for its entire main district. What kind of colossal energy reserves and vast material wealth did it take to support something like that?

This announcement from Jiang City stood in stark contrast to Rock Shelter’s failure to issue any similar notice. Perhaps Rock’s power facilities had been damaged in the chaos. Perhaps its original reserves were never enough to support that level of consumption. Or perhaps it was still prioritizing the restoration of order and its defensive structures. Whatever the reason, it was a direct illustration of the insurmountable gap in scale and resources between the two shelters.

The depths of Jiang City Shelter’s resources were truly unfathomable. Xu Mo was once again struck by the realization that a behemoth like Jiang City operated on a completely different plane of existence from a lone wolf like himself, or even a large civilian stronghold like Rock.

He switched off the radio and lay down, the lamp beside his pillow casting a reassuring glow. Whether it was a shelter’s powerful intervention or its generous illumination, the world of those distant strongholds was very far from his own.